These comments are made for the purpose of discussion and should NOT be used as recommendations for or against therapies or other treatments. An individual patient is always advised to consult their own physician.
Treatment of Sea Sickness
Question: What do you recommend as a prescription for sea sickness for over a long time period? The patch works o.k. but do you recommend anything
else besides what is offered over the counter?
Answer: The patch you refer to, Transderm Scop, contains a drug known as scopolamine. It works by slowly releasing this drug through the skin into your blood. Exactly how scopolamine prevents sea or motion sickness is not known, but apparently it prevents signals from the inner ear and other areas from reaching what is known as the “vomiting center” in the brain.
These patches are nice because the slow release of the drug reduces the
sedation and dry mouth often associated with similar medications taken
orally. And since the patches last for three days they are much more
convenient than taking tablets regularly.
For these reasons they are probably your best bet at present for treating sea
sickness. However, if you wish there are some other remedies you could try.
Dramamine, the brand name of dimenhydrinate, can be purchased over the
counter, as can Benadryl (diphenhydramine). Both of these drugs are
available as inexpensive generics. However, these medications are sedating
and, as mentioned above, must be taken regularly.
If you want to try something different you may wish to buy some capsules
containing powdered ginger from a health food store. These capsules usually
contain 500 mg of this herb. I am told one should take two capsules about
thirty minutes before travel begins and then one to two additional capsules
every 4 hours as needed up to a total of 8 capsules (4000 mg) every day.
Ginger candy can be found in oriental food stores as one inch squares which
are about one quarter inch thick. One such piece of candy should roughly
equal a 500mg capsule. It is not certain how ginger works, either, although
it appears to involve the gastrointestinal system, not the central nervous
system. Ginger will not cause sedation or dry mouth.
